Like the US, Canada, two countries already engaged in an internal tariff war, has imposed massive tariffs on Chinese cars. This is now forcing Polestar's imports to their knees.
Despite a tariff war between the two countries, Canada and the United States have agreed to a 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric cars. And that's hurting Polestar.
The importer has now chosen to stop importing the Polestar 2 because it is exclusively – unlike other cars of the brand – built in China.
That's what Driving writes.
Sales of the Polestar 2 will continue in Canada, but only as long as the importer has cars in stock. In the US, however, the brand has chosen to continue sales despite the extremely high tariffs.
Polestar in Canada will instead focus more on the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4. These cars are built in South Carolina, USA, and Busan, South Korea, respectively. This way, the brand will avoid paying even more customs duties.
Polestar skips its own model
The sister brand Volvo, which actually chose to part ways with Polestar last year, has also been affected. Both in the US and here in Denmark.
The EU's decision to raise tariffs on Chinese cars has prompted the Chinese-owned brand to move large parts of, among other things, EX30 production to Volvo Cars' factory in Ghent, Belgium.
Other brands like BYD will avoid tariffs by building completely new factories in Europe. This is happening, among other things, in Hungary. But BYD is also planning a factory in Turkey.
At the same time, the Chinese brand is being investigated for receiving illegal support from the communist regime back home in China. BYD is said to have spent money on the factory in Hungary.
Back at Polestar, the headaches in North America aren't necessarily over just because the brand is bypassing one of its own models.
Shortly before the presidential election in the United States, Joe Biden passed a law that will first ban Chinese software in new cars, followed by hardware. This will de facto make Polestar banned in the United States. Read more about it here .
